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View myPMB's current weather status Includes readings for the past week |
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*** Welcome to my PMB blog, the umpteenth! ***
The Corona Diaries
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Towards the end of 2019 Edith and I in conjunction with Bruce decided to sell our home in Town Bush Road. Selling a home is considered to be a serious event in ones lifetime, and this event was made even more difficult as it would see Edith and I moving to Howick, with Bruce staying on in Pietermaritzburg.
After a slow start we suddenly had a sale, and so in the new year we started to prepare for the move. Unfortunately at the beginning of February it became apparent that our buyers were not going to be able to live up to their impressive talk and promises. That was not a good moment, and it was probably also the time when we first became aware of the Corona Virus, Covid-19.
All was of course not lost as we still all had our bicycles, and the Berg 100 was starting to loom large on the horizon for Bruce and myself. Not only did I have a bicycle, I had also just built an e-bike with Bruce's help, and was intending to complete the Berg 100 on that.
Then we learned that Edith's brother William, and his wife Waveney, who reside in Frankfurt, Germany, would be visiting us at the time that the Berg 100 was being staged and that he too was keen to complete the Berg 100. Plans were immediately made for William's entry, and for a shuttle driver to drive our vehicle from the start of the Berg 100 at Nottingham Road, through to Himeville were we would be finishing. There we would also meet up with Edith and Waveney who would have made the trip from Pietermaritzburg to Himeville in order to cheer the cyclists over the finish line.
So it was back to square one, and it was also the moment when we realised that while the Berg 100 was just around the corner, so was the Corona Virus. Also that William and Waveney's trip to South Africa would now be in the balance. So while we were disappointed, we were not surprised when they informed us that they had been offered a flight postponement by Lufthansa which they felt they had to accept. Also because they were by then quite concerned about the possibility of them being involved in the transmission of the Corona Virus to South Africa.
What was now needed was a change of plan. and it was provided by Edith who decided that she would acquire an e-bike and ride the Berg 100 in her brother's place. Fantastic! Withing a day or two Edith had the e-bike, and had been for a training ride on it. At that point it also became apparent that carting two e-bikes and a third MTB around on our ageing bike rack, was not a good idea, and so a new more suitable e-bike ready bike rack was ordered.
The next big thing should have been the Berg 100 which was now literally ten days away. Well, Edith had hardly finished what would be her only serious e-bike training ride, when the President of the country appeared on television. He informed the country that in order to deal with what was now the Corona Virus Pandemic, all sorts of measures would be introduced in South Africa within the coming days. Within two days the Berg 100 was cancelled and the Corona Virus loomed large on the horizon.
Once again all was not lost, the schools had now all closed earlier than expected for the Easter break, and we would be spending time with our grand-children doing some fun, and at times tiring (the good kind) stuff. That started, and we had hardly been at it for long, when we heard that the Berg 100 and the Tour Durban had been postponed rather than cancelled.
So we once again find ourselves cycling with the extra enthusiasm one would expect with an event on the horizon. Also hoping that South Africa, and the world at large, is going to emerge from these trying times less battered than we have at times feared.
PS Also spare a thought for Pierre Delport who had decided this year that he would have another go at the Dams Challenge in Perth. As far as I know, it has been cancelled, and I am pleased to see that this has not stopped him from commuting to work on his bike. That is of course when he is tele-working, or is that tele-porting?
If you have any comments, corrections, suggestions or plain criticism, I would appreciate it if you would communicate the same to me.
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Google+ | www.robdempster.com |
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